This blog has been written since 2007 by Rhett Laubach, professional speaker, leadership expert, owner of YourNextSpeaker, LLC and Co-Founder of PLI, Inc. Ryan Underwood, CEO of TRI Leadership, LLC and Co-Founder of PLI, Inc., is a contributing author. The purpose of this writing is to help you develop leadership and life skills.
"Personal Leadership Insight is our understanding of how to positively influence people and situations to create value and growth."
Leaders are constantly interested in improvement. Making things better drives their thinking, their value system, and their behavior. However, you can't change something (for better or worse) unless you can measure movement.
How can I be friendly with people around me that have traits I don't like?
How do I get everybody to participate in fundraising events?
How do I handle it when I don't have an answer for someone who looks up to me as a mentor?
(There are more to follow...)
Regret is so detrimental to our emotional well-being because it is a today feeling about a yesterday action. It is a state that is both changeable (how I feel now) and unchangeable (what I did then.)
Effectively managing what we don't know is an important part of positively influencing others.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. What open loops are in your life?
2. What actions can you take to close them?
3. What are the subjects that you do know?
4. Why is it important to surround yourself with people who can fill in the blanks?
"This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." Winston Churchill
During the busiest month for conferences and conventions (October), it is relevant for us to take a quick look at the biggest downside of attending conferences - particularly leadership or other training conferences.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. Who is on your list of top ten contacts that have helped you? What opportunities can you look for to help repay them?
2. What are some things you can start today in order to increase your network?
People who think success is just a matter of luck are less likely to enjoy job and life satisfaction. The reason is because the control has been taken out of their hands. If success and failure are just based on pure happenstance, then there is no real reason to work harder or more efficiently or more productively. There is no reason to set goals and work to achieve them. And when you extract purpose and direction and motivation from any equation (let alone work), what you have left is very less than satisfying. When the risk and mystery is gone (either success is or is not in the cards for me), then the game is boring and completely disengaging.
A few of my college buddies and I took a golf weekend trip to Scottsdale, AZ. We golfed 72 holes in 48 hours. We had a great time. Scottsdale is widely known as a golfing mecca. The courses were all beautiful and well worth the green fees.
Click on the following link to watch an interview I did on September 10, 2007 for Oklahoma City's News Channel 5 about these speaking tips...
Authenticity leads to transparency.
Transparency leads to
honesty.
Honesty leads to confidence.
Confidence leads to trust.
The corporate and education worlds are full of people who want to be Superman. They want to possess super leadership powers that will allow them to communicate at the speed of light, inspire others to leap buildings in a single bound and see straight through the walls people/competitors/potential buyers put up.
The challenge here is the Clark Kent Effect. If you want to be Superman, you have to be Clark Kent, also. You have to be okay with not being in power. You have to understand that Superman was a hero not because of his powers, but because of what he did with his powers. This strength of character, inspiring integrity and service-mindedness lived within Clark Kent. It just so happened he had the powers to help others in extraordinary ways as Superman.
If you want to be Superman (or Superwoman), be Clark Kent first. Be yourself. Be humble. Be a klutz. Be a person of integrity.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. What is the meaning behind the phrase “Superman was a hero not because of his powers but because of what he did with his powers” and how does it apply to our everyday lives?
2. What strategies can you put to use today so that you too will be able to be a superman?
Two people are standing, facing each other, hands raised to shoulder-height and palms open. They touch palms and lean towards each other. As the leaning begins, a balance is achieved to prevent either person from falling. Then something happens that disrupts the balance - someone starts pushing. This action not only breaks the balance, but it causes the other person to push back out of self-defense. Of course, this response is met with more pushing. And the cycle continues until someone is tired of either pushing back or being pushed.
This demonstration happens everyday in relationships. Things are going great. There are palms touched (making a connection with others.) There is a balance (mutual trust.) Then the pushing begins (aggression, broken trust, tempers, etc.) This action causes the other person to push back and things get out of hand.
So, how can you avoid this situation? Two ways...
1. When you achieve a balance with others, maintain it. Be truthful. Be respectful. Think before you talk. Thoughtfully consider their point of view. Understand that there is a "leaning" going on - that you are connected to others and that your behavior affects their life. Live outside yourself.
2. When someone starts pushing you or when you find yourself starting to push, step away. Don't make others push back and don't waste your energy pushing back. The secret learning in the analogy above is that as soon as one of the parties stops pushing, the pusher stops as well because there is nothing left to push on. This attention and tension break stops the vicious cycle and balance has a better chance to succeed again.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. Why do you think the pushing starts?
2. When was a time that “pushing” ruined a close relationship in your life?
The following seven skills are at the core of what we teach to our professional, pageant and student presentation coaching clients...
1. Authenticity is your number one goal. The best communicators know who they are, have a real-life bond with their content and strive to make a genuine connection with their audience. The biggest challenge on the road to speaking success is getting out of your own way and letting the best of the real you shine through.
2. Nervousness and excitement are chemically exactly the same. To the human body, there is no difference between being very nervous and very excited. Don't worry about getting rid of your nerves. Begin down the path of controlling your nerves by simply thinking about them differently. Accept that it is ok to be nervous and leverage your nerves to keep you on your toes.
3. Engage your audience quickly to control their attention. Almost as important as controlling your nerves is controlling the audience's focus. Get them involved in your presentation right from the start. Ask a question. Have them share with a partner. Get them physically moving. Make them laugh. Etc.
4. Send your message through the CVS test. In today's noisy world, the most effective messages cut to the core quickly. Make sure your messages are Concrete (don't make me search too hard for the meaning), Visual (help me see it) and Simple (I'm busy - your message shouldn't be.) The quickest way to achieve CVS is through good story-telling.
5. Master the art of indexing and filtering. Great presenters are great at preparing their content. They index information based on a set range of categories, topics, types of content, etc. they deem necessary for their presentations. We refer to these as buckets. Then they fill these buckets as full as they can. The important step comes during preparation - filtering down the information based on authenticity and the CVS test.
6. Your body language sends thousands of messages while your words only send a few. The most important body language is eye contact. You should make it with specific people and make it often. Think of any presentation as a string of smaller conversations with a number of different people. Beyond that, think moderation and variety when it comes to hand movements, walking, pace, volume, and facial expressions.
7. You can (and should) develop your ability to communicate. Communicating effectively is one-part technical, one-part mental and one-part habitual. No matter your experience level, all three of these can be sharpened and improved. More importantly, because our relationships, influence level and, in many cases, earning ability are dramatically impacted by our speaking skills, you should work to implement these skills this week. If you need more help, contact us. We would love to work with you.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. What makes up the best you?
2. Why is it important to get your audience engaged early?
3. Who was the best speaker you have ever seen? What was their message? Why was it memorable?
4. What are some strategies for indexing your content?
5. Why is it important to make eye contact with individuals?
Think of three wildly successful individuals in three significantly different fields...
Think very specifically about why your brain connects the concept of "successful" with each person...
Think about the nature of these characteristics. Do you perceive them to be in the skills, talents, or attitudes category....
Chances are your big performer A, B and C had very different reasons why they are successful and chances are almost as good those "success attributes" fall under different categories. The lesson here is that successful people seem to be very unique in terms of how and why they are high achievers...
The dirty little secret of big performers is they do have two very important "somethings" in common.
Regardless of industry, position, personality, market conditions, expertise, training, talent, skill or attitude, big performers are willing to do the small, non-sexy, gritty, "down in the trenches" tasks the average or under performers either don't want to do or don't think they should have to do. Big performers are in a never-ending battle with entitlement.
Big performers don't see themselves as "big performers." They see themselves as growing performers. They are constantly getting better, learning, stretching, risking, pursuing and running. Big performers are in a never-ending battle with complacency.
Expert Leaders understand a project's success needs to based on both the overall outcome, as well as each team member's output.
The concept of hard-work is not directly labeled in the Personal Leadership Insight "Ten Essentials of Leadership" structure (Vision, Integrity, Innovative, Wise Judgment, etc.) However, internally we have always housed this very important leadership concept under the Integrity Essential. We've believe a person of integrity not only does what he/she says they will do, but they give 100% to everything they do.
When judging the success/failure of a project, the final outcome many times has too many moving parts that are out of our control. Thus, this metric can sometimes be a poor test of true success/failure.
However, each team member's output during the project is controllable. Call it what you want, energy, enthusiasm, passion, drive, or ambition, high-level output is what makes great teams outperform the competition. Here are a few of the dynamics that create high-level output...
1. Everyone on the team is engaging a core strength.
2. The team leader is trusted.
3. The mission of the team was created by the team and/or each team member went through an "ownership" process.
4. Everyone on the team is clear about why their individual output matters to the team's success.
5. There is an established protocol for how decisions are made.
If your team is not functioning at the level you know they can, cross-reference this list with the dynamics of your team and look for disparities.
Finally, output discussions are only relevant after a team has determined how and how often it is measured. Once clarity of expectations is obtained, high-level output becomes easier and easier to create and sustain.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. Why is it important to have some way to judge the success or failure of a project?
2. What are some ways to increase your team’s performance in those five dynamics?
3. What is an example of a time when a team had a failing outcome but would of succeeded by output standards?
This is the second of a series of posts in direct response to questions student leaders have asked us over the past few weeks. Thank you to those student leaders who took the time to voice your questions.
Q: How do I know that I am doing the job I am supposed to be doing as an elected student leader?
A. I picked this question to blog on today because I just finished a book that every manager/CEO/team leader/coach should read and implement. It is the Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni. Without giving away the plot, this student leader's question speaks directly to one of the three signs - not knowing how to measure your performance.
If I could sit down with every student organization advisor on the chapter, state and national level today and give them one metric to work on that would dramatically improve the impact of their organization, it would be to help their leaders (both adult and student) to know what success looks like in their job and help them measure it on a regular basis.
To the student leader wanting to know if they are doing a good job or not, your first step is to ask your direct report - the person who is directly responsible for helping you do a good job. Ask them point blank if you are doing a good job and ask for specifics. Formulate a list between the two of you of the measurable tasks/outcomes that would signify a job well done. This list might include the number of letters/e-mails/Facebook messages you write to members, the number of assignments you completed on time or early, the amount of hours you invested in a certain time period working on organization related items, etc.
After your initial conversation and brainstorm with your advisor, you will not only have a clearer understanding of how you are doing today, but you will have a list of benchmarks for the future.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. Why is it important to have some benchmarks for your position?
2. What outcomes/tasks signify a job well done for you?
Marcus Buckingham released a DVD set recently titled "Trombone Player Wanted." It is about strengths, which is what Buckingham is all about. He highlights three myths that need to be replaced with three truths. As you read these, think about how you have developed in your life and what the traditional thinking is about growth through strengths/weakness analysis...
Myth #1 - As you grow, you change.
Truth #1 - As you grow, you become more and more of who you are.
Our basic make-up will be the same at 4 years old, 34 years old and 84 years old.
Myth #2 - You will grow in your weakest areas.
Truth #2 - You will take fantastic leaps of growth in your strongest areas.
77% of parents say they would spend more time with their child helping them in a class where they have an F than in a class where they have an A.
Myth #3 - What the team needs is for everyone to put the team first and the individual second.
Truth #3 - The best teams are full of individuals who bring their strengths to the team and those strengths compliment each other.
There is an "I" in win.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. What are some strategies to help you bring out the real you?
2. Why is it more productive to spend your time in your strongest area?
3. What are your core strengths and how can you maximize those in a team situation?
Chances are good you are one of the thousands of people who were watching the Miss USA Teen competition a few nights ago or one of the 4 million plus who have watched the YouTube clip of Miss South Carolina Teen's seemingly disasterous on-stage answer or at least have heard of her now infamous :30 seconds of fame. The real story is not her train-wreck answer to the question about 1/5 of Americans not being able to find the United States on a map. It is not about how many millions of people have checked out the video clip. It is not even that more than 1/5 of Americans now know who came in third at the competition (Miss South Carolina Teen), but probably less than 1/5 of the people in the room with you right now knows who came in first.
The real story here is she had the guts and the emotional maturity to go on the Today Show two days later to discuss what happened, to describe blow-by-blow how she managed to talk on stage for :30 seconds and not give one complete sentence, and to laugh at herself a little.
Even as a full-time communicator and pageant contestant coach, I will admit we've shared a few crinches and chuckles at the office over this deal. But yesterday I was talking with one of my sales-coaching clients and he told me about a high performing rep in his office who absolutely refuses to stand in front of her 12 office peers and give a 10-minute presentation!
The real story here is not about Miss South Carolina Teen's :30 seconds of failure. It is about how she took a risk, fell flat on her face, got back up, learned something and moved on. When was the last time you risked boldly in front of your peers, allowed yourself to be challenged, failed and then had the emotional maturity to admit it and talk about it - especially in the transparent and unforgiving realm of public speaking?
This is the first of a series of posts in direct response to questions student leaders have asked us over the past few weeks. Thank you to those student leaders who took the time to voice your questions.
Q: How do I make my meetings more effective? It is especially difficult for me to keep my peers from not listening, being disruptive, rude, etc.
A. Managing attention during a meeting can be difficult, but is not impossible. Try these strategies...
1. Focus on the cause, not the conditions. A condition-focus would be, "Julie is constantly chatting during the meeting." A cause-focus would be, "Julie does not see value in the meeting and/or hasn't been 'enrolled' in the meeting." A condition-focus will lead you to a brick wall every time and is simply your interpretation of the current situation. A cause-focus demands you to seek out more information. You have to ask questions and look for the why, not just the what.
2. Enroll your attendees in the meeting. People will naturally give their attention to something that is interesting, unique, unexpected, mentally/physically/emotionally engaging and/or valuable to them personally. Leverage this by doing something at the very first of the meeting to "enroll" them in the meeting agenda. Give everyone a question to personally answer and share with the group. Do a quick team-building exercise. Your primary goal here is to break their attention from whatever was happening before the meeting and get them focused on now.
3. Remove distractions. Throw cell phones in the middle of the table. Close windows. Remove energy gaps (extra space between people.) Set in a circle. Get away from tables (if possible.)
4. Set (and adhere to) a set agenda. People are more willing to give their attention to something if they know how long that attention will have to last. Set out a game plan, set a time-limit and stick to both. If something comes up off the game plan and/or will take you over time, have someone write it down and save it for a later meeting.
5. Have a recognized discussion/agenda leader. This is probably you. However, assign the task to someone else today. Chat with them beforehand about the agenda goals, time limits and have them guide the ship.
6. Make certain you need the meeting. Many meetings go awry simply because they are unnecessary. It is easy to get distracted from something you don't see any value in. Here is a short list of meetings you should have:
(From Seth Godin's Blog...)
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEETINGS. It's a huge mistake to just show up in a conference room and have a meeting. If the expectation is 'yet another meeting', then the odds are, you'll have yet another meeting. Here are a few very distinct types of meetings:
- Just so everyone knows: This is a meeting in which one person or small group tells other people what's already been decided and is about to happen. These meetings should always have a written piece to go with them, and in many cases, it should be distributed a day before the meeting. The meeting should be very short, take place in an auditorium type setting, not a circle, and have focused Q&A at the end. Even a quiz. It's the football huddle, and the running back isn't supposed to challenge the very premises the quarterback is using to call the play.
- What are you up to: This is a meeting in which every participant needs to present the state of their situation. It probably happens on a regular basis and each person should have a strict time limit. Like two minutes (with an egg timer). After presenting the situation, each attendee can send their summary in an email to one person, who can sum it up and send it out to everyone.
- What does everyone think? In third place, a meeting where anyone can speak up. People who don't speak up on a regular basis should not be invited back. It's obvious they are good at some other function in the office, so you're wasting their time if they sit there.
- We need a decision right now. These are ad hoc meetings that have a specific agenda and should end with a decision. A final decision that doesn't get reviewed.
- Hanging out meetings. These are meetings with no real agenda, lots of side conversations, bored people, people instant messaging and just sort of hanging out. Sometimes these are fun, but I wouldn't know, because I haven't been to one in three years.
- To hear myself talk meetings. You get the idea.
7. Privately Ask, Engage, Remove. If you do all of these things and you still have a disruptive team member, privately ask them if they are aware of how their negative behavior is hurting the meeting. Ask them to help the team out by adjusting their behavior. If that doesn't work, engage them in some way during the meeting. Have them lead a discussion. Ask them to offer an opinion. If those strategies don't work, take a break and ask them to leave.
Expert leaders constantly live in two time zones.
TZ Now. What is happening in front of me right now and how can I create the most value for this situation?
TZ Later. Where will I most be needed in a month from now and what is one thing I can do today to move closer to creating value for that situation?
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. Why is it important for leaders to live in both the TZ Now and TZ Later?
If you are like most people, you know someone who always has to have drama in their life. It is almost like their world isn't complete unless someone is after them, someone doesn't like them, or something is wrong. They constantly live with a bad case of drama trauma and it is contagious.
Expert leaders understand that drama trauma negatively impacts their ability to create value and growth and they work hard to maturely deal with their emotions.
What creates drama trauma?
Drama Trauma can overtake any person who is self-focused. This "ME-ism" creates an emotional vacuum where the person becomes overly sensitive to everything. Their self-focus makes them over-analyze every word said and every move made by others, while assuming all of those words and actions have something to do with them.
Poor decision-making creates just as much drama trauma as Me-ism. Once someone breaks trust with others, it is very difficult for them to trust anyone (including themselves - adding to the drama.)
How do you get rid of drama trauma?
Volunteer. Do random acts of kindness. Take up a hobby that is team-related. Get involved in a meaningful and healthy relationship. Do anything you can to spend a good majority of your time thinking of something other than yourself and your problems.
Learn how to make better choices by watching and learning others who have learned to do so. Say I'm sorry and recover trust when you do make a bad decision. No one is perfect, but plenty of people are too selfish to say I'm sorry.
Expert leaders know how to gingerly diffuse the impact of drama trauma.
How do you effectively deal with other's drama trauma?
This is determined by your relationship with the person. If you are a person of formal influence over them (coach, manager, parent, sibling, etc.), you need to engage in the difficult conversation of helping them recognize how their drama is hurting the people and situations around them. Make it about their behavior though and not about them personally. Also, before you have that conversation, make certain you have some identified ways in which you are prepared to help them deal with and overcome their trauma. However, wait for them to ask for help. Timing is everything in difficult conversations.
If you are not in a formal influence position (horizontal peer, acquaintance, etc.), your task is to simply not be influenced by their drama trauma. Don't play their games and try not to feed their drama by engaging in gossip, assumptive discussions, etc. Also, don't be afraid to help them see the "real situation" (if you are in the know.) People with drama trauma are constantly creating situations, arguments and disagreements out of thin air.
Processing Questions for PLI Curriculum Teachers/Trainers:
1. When was a time that you noticed an example of Drama Trauma?
2. Who is someone that is very good at eliminating drama trauma?
(1) Turn on your radio or iPod. Find some good music. Now listen as you read.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the most popular American Poet in the 19th century, wrote, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”
Music performs a number of remarkable feats on the human body. It boosts the immune system, regulates stress-related hormones, stimulates digestion and affects respiration. Rhythm is at the heart of music. However, the power of rhythm is not only found in song.
Your vision of the future creates your life’s rhythm.
Your vision defines your connection between you and the people, places, and things around you. Do they have purpose? Are they taking you closer or further away from your vision?
(2) Back to the song. Listen intently to it. Is it familiar or new? If it is familiar, where does it take you in your life? What memories are being recalled? Does the song make you want to dance, reflect, go to sleep or just listen?
(3) Now, change the channel. With a new song comes a totally different set of experiences. You are now in a different place with a different song and a new mood.
(4) Again, change the channel. Only this time, keep looking until you find one you really like. This song, above all the others before, is exactly what you need right now. Your feet are tapping and it makes you feel good. The song has changed your entire energy level. You have found your rhythm. The song has connected with you. It is this type of energizing connection an authentic vision should be creating in your life today. If its not, change the channel. Develop a vision that energizes you, makes you hopeful and creates a positive, purpose-filled rhythm in your life.
“Rhythm is a movement marked by the regular recurrence or natural flow of related elements.”
This definition of rhythm highlights the primary dynamic of an authentic vision. The key word is movement. It denotes a lack of sameness, an absence of apathy and a physical action producing a change. An authentic vision creates the magic of inertia in your life. It drives you to purposeful action. And you have to act upon your vision for it to have any relevance or impact on your life. Effort is the bridge between potential and achievement.
An authentic vision leads to authentic action.
With authentic vision, your life becomes unique and your purpose is easily recognizable by you and others - just like a great song where the rhythm is a reflection of what the artist, songwriter and listener are all about. Work hard to find your authentic vision and it will continually move you and your actions to reach a genuine rhythm of meaning and greatness.
Kevin Eikenberry has crafted an extraordinary new leadership development book, Remarkable Leadership. When you purchase it today on Amazon.com you will receive over 50 additional bonus leadership development items from Kevin and partnering vendors.
Kevin sent me an advance copy of Remarkable Leadership last week and it is chock-full of tangible and relevant leadership tools and strategies.
"Kevin accurately reminds us that whatever our job title or position, we are all leaders—and all have the potential to become truly remarkable. His belief in us and our ultimate success is real and can be read on every page. This belief is inspiring and empowering—as you read these pages his belief in you will build your own belief, an important ingredient in any successful learning journey."
- From the Foreword by Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles
I interviewed Kevin last week to provide you some insight on his leadership philosophies before you invest in the book today...
1. Was Remarkable Leadership written more to reinforce and deepen people's current beliefs about leadership or to persuade them to adopt a different and new viewpoint of leadership?
The only belief I wanted to reinforce is I want people to see it is possible to be who they are and be a remarkable leader! If that requires some persuasion for some readers, I hope I succeed.
2. If you could, please describe the basic difference between Jill and Tara and what caused their different paths?
Jill and Tara are two characters I introduce in the second chapter when I was talking about how leadership development really happens in most organizations. Actually I don’t think there is much difference between them – as I wrote about them in the story both are smart, talented and ambitious. The differences in their development had more to do with the organizations they were in and how each treated leadership development. My hope is that with this book, anyone can be more successful in their own leadership development, perhaps even in spite of what their organization offers.
3. Do you feel this is just as much a personal development book as it is a leadership development book?
I really do Rhett. I personally have some trouble separating personal development from professional development – not because I’m a work-a-holic or place all of my focus on my professional pursuits but because any development in any area of our life has the chance to improve our results, satisfaction and enjoyment in other parts of our life as well.
4. If you could sum up in two to three sentences the core difference between a normal leader and a remarkable leader, what would it be?
First, a remarkable leader as someone who is continually working to become a more effective - continually learning and improving. Second, they recognize that remarkable leadership is not about the technical skills of forecasting, budgeting and technical knowledge of the work, but really about how they engender trust, build relationships, develop others, communicate more effectively—all of those other skills that we really think of when we think of great leaders that we've worked with in the past. That’s a remarkable leader.
5. What are some tips and strategies for being able to recognize the differences between the four communication styles you mention on page 66? i.e. - what are the simple signs to recognize each one?
There are many different communication and personality style models and I’m sure most everyone reading this is familiar one or has a favorite. What I tried to do in the book is outline some basic styles. Giving signs to recognize each one would make this a very long interview! Let me sidestep just a bit and say that the key to effectively communicating with others is to mirror their communication style – so that you are meeting their needs and communicating in ways that best match their needs.
6. Why do so many people today not "get" the likeability factor you discuss on page 82?
I think many people wish it didn’t matter. I’ve heard people say something like this many times, “In a perfect world it wouldn’t matter if people liked me- I could be valued for my skills.” Guess what? It isn’t a perfect world. To be as successful as possible, as a leader or otherwise, we must be likable. Thinking anything else is denial.
Get introduced to Kevin and Remarkable Leadership and then invest in the book today. It is worth it.
I have got serious issues for two specific reasons...
1. I have a very weird bathroom routine that provides a key insight to why my personality is tailor-made for my work.
2. I am sharing this routine on my blog.
Basically, I always have to have something to read in there (the water closet, the head, the john, etc.), but I am never in there long enough to read it.
You might be thinking this just makes me a guy with good plumbing. But, as a professional communicator and advice giver, I am called to look for the glacier and not just be satisfied with the iceberg.
This very weird bathroom routine illustrates that I am a constant learner (I always have a book, a magazine, the Wall Street Journal or my Blackberry notes function in front of me in situations when most people are just doing nothing) and I streamline my time as much as possible because, like you I'm sure, I always have more to do than I have time to do it.
Both of these traits play perfectly into running my own business and in being a professional communicator. How about you? Is your personality a strength or a weakness in relation to the important tasks you are called to do with your projects? If you haven't put language to your personality traits yet, go visit the bathroom and think on it for awhile.
